


Skotádi Academy

by straykittles



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Dark, Angst, M/M, Multi, School, another kind of sad story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:00:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27257569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/straykittles/pseuds/straykittles
Summary: Three students “accidentally” killed a man, one is falling in love and is losing faith in his religion, another seems to know everything, two other students are noticing strange things about their boarding school and there are rumors that the old dance room is haunted by a dance student who died five years ago.
Relationships: Hwang Hyunjin/Lee Minho | Lee Know
Kudos: 21





	1. 3 little mice

**Author's Note:**

> I lost the link or who posted it, but this is inspired by a post I saw. It says "Dark Academia" and.. something, seriously, I forgot ehe, but I hope you guys enjoy this.

September 26, 2020, Saturday, 12:45 am

“Come back here!” A loud voice echoed through the school basement. Three pairs of feet are running away from the source of the voice. They didn’t know why they had to run to their boarding school when a big drunk man is chasing after them. “To the right.” Chan says, out of breath. They made a swift turn to the right, hitting a dead end. Changbin cursed behind them, gasping for air and Jisung tugged on his black hair with blonde highlights. “Come on, we have to move.” He says.

Chan nods before turning around. They other two turned as well only to be met by the one chasing them. Jisung’s eyes widened, his hands going to his back pocket where his pocket knife was. He liked knives and keeping it at times like this are helpful. “We don’t want to hurt you.” He states, taking it out and whipping it open. The sharp object shined even with the little light coming in.

“Jisung.” Chan states, going in front of him. “He’s drunk. We don’t have to-“ Chan was cut off when the drunk man took out a knife slightly bigger than Jisung’s. Chan’s eyes widened, his grip on Jisung tightening. “Chan we gotta get out of here.” Changbin states, eyes staring at the knife of the drunk man. “You’re not going anywhere.” The drunk man states, rushing forward, swinging the knife around.

The three students avoided his drunk attempts on stabbing them, swiftly pushing each other and leaning on each other. The drunk man growls, angry that they were fast enough to dodge him, but then he grabs Chan by the arm, pulling him to his chest and putting the knife on his neck. “Give me back the money.” He says through gritted teeth, the scent of alcohol from his mouth hits Chan’s nose. He winced, feeling the knife press on his neck.

“Don’t.”

Chan manages to get out, looking at Jisung who was about to get his wallet with shaky hands.  
They won that money in an underground poker bar for his school books and boarding rent. Even though their school gives scholarships, they still needed to buy their uniforms, boarding and books. That money they won through gambling was important to the kid and Chan is not letting a drunkard scare them to giving it up when they won it fair and square. Besides, they could still get out of this. 

Their hearts were beating so loud, they could hear it in their ears, their hands were sweaty and eyes blown wide as they wait for anyone to move or even speak. Which was what the drunk man did. “Fine. I’ll just hurt your pretty friend and-“ Chan took this chance to his the man’s ribs with his right elbow, pushing himself off before facing him. “Push him!” He yells when the man pulls his hand back to swing the knife towards them.

They pushed him back, a gasp and a sound of something tearing rang in their ears. They stepped back with wide eyes, staring as the man starts gurgling and swaying, hands on his neck. They all watched him fall to his knees before faceplanting on the ground. “What..” Changbin says, taking his phone out and opening his flashlight. Jisung gagged, turning around as Chan and Changbin watch blood gush out from his neck. Chan cursed loud enough for them to hear and Changbin followed, putting his other hand on top of his head, a black beanie covering his hair with the similar color as Jisung’s.

“We.. We should get out of here.” Jisung states loudly, his back still turned around, his hand gripping his knife while the other grips his own hair. “Y-yeah. Let’s go.” Chan states, tugging Changbin while following Jisung out of the basement. They reached the pathway to the way of the boy’s dormitory. It was one in the morning now and the dorms should be locked since the lights out is at ten o’clock, but Chan, who is assigned to go around the boy’s dormitory to check if everyone is in bed every night, has an extra set of keys for everywhere for being the school’s “best student”.

Well, the school’s best student just accidentally killed someone along with his two best friends.   
They quietly sneaked in, choosing Jisung and Chan’s dorm room to stay in since it was the closest, it was at the second floor, the first door on the right. They all sat on the ground, quiet and head down. “Should we call the police?” Jisung quietly asked, blinking the tears that started forming at the corner of his eyes. Chan looks up as well, looking at Changbin before glancing at Jisung. “Yes.” He says, inhaling deeply, taking his old phone, the one he barely uses, from the drawer with shaking hands.

“But. We’re not telling them that we were ever with him. No mention of the money. No mention of the underground den. We’ll tell them that we were hanging out here, in the dorm and that we saw a drunk man outside the dormitory.”  
Chan states, eyes locked with the old phone, his breath wasn’t stable, but Changbin and Jisung understood every word he said. Chan licked his dry lips, dialing the emergency number. It took three rings before an operator answered. Chan cleared his throat, combing back his black hair before clicking the loudspeaker button. “This is the police department; how can we help you?” The woman asked. “Hi..” Chan states, inhaling deeply.

“My friends and I saw a drunk man from our dorm room walking around outside the building.” Chan says, exhaling quietly when he gets through the first question. “Did he seem dangerous?” She asked again and Chan blinks, looking at Jisung who was still holding his knife. “He seemed to be carrying a knife. We didn’t go down for our safety.” He answered too calmly that it scared him.

“What is your location?” She asks and Chan gulps. “We’re in Skotádi Academy.” He answered and he hears typing. “We’ll get it checked out, have you notified any professors about this?” She asked and he shook his head. “No.” He states. He was instructed to contact the dean or the head security about the situation while waiting for the police.

They ended the call and they stared at each other. “Hyung, we’re gonna get caught.” Changbin says, looking at him. “We have CCTV cameras everywhere.” He adds and Chan lets out a frustrated groan. “We should delete the footage.” Jisung states, keeping his knife back in his pocket. They both look at Chan, waiting for his next instructions. 

Everything was a mess. They just wanted the money. But now they’re planning on covering up something they did on accident. It makes them look guilty. But the three of them knew what will happen to them if they didn’t cover it up. They will not get a chance to go to another high-end academy or even any other academy. Jisung’s scholarship will end. They will taint the school, people will run away from them. 

Chan takes the keys, taking one from it and handing it to Changbin. “You two will go the security office, I’ll call Security Oh and Principal Jung to meet up at the front door.” He says, gulping. “But we should change our clothes and maybe throw in some cologne.” He adds, looking at their all black outfits. They always wore dark clothes when they sneaked out for a party or when just want to hang out in the rooftop on Fridays. Jisung was wearing a black shirt with black jacket, jogging pants and black vans. Changbin was wearing a black hoodie, black jeans and black converse. Chan was wearing something similar to Jisung.

“Text me when you deleted the files.”

\--

Changbin and Jisung, now in their clean jogging pants and t-shirts – still all black since Chan said they might still get caught by the other guards, sneaked around to reach the other side of the campus. They saw Chan, who was wearing a white sleeveless shirt and jogging pants, outside the front door of the school with two other people. Presumably Security Oh, who was wearing a security uniform and Principal Jung who had a robe on. They let out a sigh of relief when they opened the security door to reveal no one.

Jisung sits on the chair, typing and clicking while Changbin stays by the door, leaving it slightly opened to see if anyone’s coming. “What are you doing?” Changbin asked, his voice quiet and trembling from being shaken up with the events this night. “I’m deleting the footage from when we sneaked out and came back running with the.. man.” He states, hands still shaking as he typed a code. “I’m also turning off the cameras that’s in the direction of our dorm so we can come back without any trace of us.” Jisung says, gulping after, shaking his head.  
He never thought that his computer skills will be used this way. 

“Done.”

He states, getting up and texting Chan a squirrel emoji.

To: Channie-hyung  
1:23 am  
🐿️

Jisung and Changbin rushed back to the dorm room undetected. When they sit on Jisung’s bed, a police car with its lights on came, luckily, there were no sirens. It wasn’t a big emergency anyway. Well, the police think it’s not, but the three of them knew that it was more than just a drunk man wandering the campus with a knife. The man was already dead. That was a big deal.

They see Chan, Security Oh and Principal Jung meet up with two police offers. 

After a couple of exchange, Principal Jung faced Chan. “I’ll head up to the office to announce to the students to lock their doors. Security Oh, please go with the police. And Mr. Bang..” Mr. Jung states, making Chan look at him, blinking. “You should head to bed. Thank you for notifying us.” Principal Jung states, giving him a nod, Security Oh nods as well. “See you tomorrow, Chan.” He says and Chan nods, bowing to them before jogging up to the dorm room again. Jisung and Changbin stares at him when he entered, locking the door.

“Will they find the body?” Jisung asked, still fazed. “We don’t know yet. The police said that they will check from the ground up so..” Chan says, sitting on the ground, leaning on his bed. After a moment of silence, a microphone feedback made them look up. “Attention students. Attention students. There is a drunk man walking around with a knife. Please lock your doors and wait for further announcements.” Mr. Jung states before repeating it for two times again in case the student were still asleep.

They hear doors opening from the hallways and Chan rubbed his face before standing up and going out the hallway. “Everyone!” He called out, his voice loud and clear. “Please just follow the instructions given. Lock all doors and-“ He was cut off with sirens coming from the distance and closing. He turns to look at the wide eyed Jisung and Changbin in the room. Everyone ran to the right side of the dorms since it was where the view of the front of the school is.

Murmurs and whispers erupted from each room while the three of them stayed still. They found the body. Chan walks in the room almost like a zombie, closing the door and locking it. His friends followed him as he looked out the window. An ambulance came with another police car. And just like lightening, the body of the large drunk man was pulled out in a stretcher, the red stain on the white blanket gave shiver down to their spines. “Hyung.” Jisung whispered, tearing up completely. Changbin sits on the bed, staring at the ground. “Hyung, I don’t want to go to jail.” Jisung adds.

Chan shook his head, pulling him in a hug. Chan met Jisung last year when Jisung was a freshmen, he looked so lost and hopeless that Chan promised to take care of him because he was his “roommate”, but that changed since now they were like brothers. They’ve been through a lot after a year. “You’re not going anywhere.” He states before looking at Changbin who was still staring on the ground. “You too.” He said and Changbin looked up.

He met Changbin two years ago. They were the first to be friends. That time, Changbin, a freshman, was a troublemaker, causing problems everywhere from punching a classmate to getting caught smoking. But then a sophomore called Chan tried to be friends with him. Chan found it hard since Changbin always had a wall around him, but he knew that Chan told off the students who tried to get Changbin angry and punch someone. He was silently thankful for that because if he had let his anger get the best of him, he would be suspended. Which was not good for him and his dad who is congressman.

But when he found out that Chan has been smacked across the face in the cafeteria, he rushed over and punched the guy who hurt the older right on the jaw. After that, the three of them got into cleaning detention for a month, Changbin got off the hook because he wasn’t the one who attacked first. Changbin and Chan became friends after that.

Now, Chan who’s in his senior year, Changbin who’s in his junior year and Jisung who’s in his sophomore year became inseparable. Changbin’s got his anger issues controlled now, especially that they have a sensitive Jisung now. He might carry around a knife, but that kid is soft hearted and easily moved. Changbin and Chan became someone who he can show his sensitive side to.

\--

That morning, the principal gathered the students in the auditorium. “Is this about last night?” Someone asked from behind them. They were nervous, Jisung’s leg was bouncing, teeth digging into his lower lip, almost making it bleed. Changbin was playing with his rings, playing cool, but if someone really looked at him, they would notice. Chan’s eyes were unfocused, darting from person to person, he’s the least obvious from the two.

Their principal entered the stage and they all settled, the chattering of the students dying down. “Good morning, students.” He started and Chan gulps, keeping his eyes on the principal. “Last night, we discovered a man who took his own life.” He states. Shocked, the three of them looked at each other, thankfully, the other students did that as well, murmuring to themselves. “Quiet down.” Principal Jung says.

“I will gather your parents and guardians later in the day to tell them about the incident. Classes will be cancelled today, but please stay within the campus. That is all. See you around.” He says before leaving. The students left as well, happy that they got a whole day with nothing to do, but the three of them stayed, staring at the empty stage. They thought the auditorium is empty, but then footsteps made them look to the left, where the stairs were.

“Sad, wasn’t it?” The male student asked, tilting his head. “Slit his own throat.” He adds, letting out a ‘tsk’ before smiling at the three. “See you around, boys.” He adds before leaving. They stared at where the guy stood, confused. “How.. did he know about that it was his throat?” Jisung asked, wide eyes looking back at the other two. “Yeah, Principal Jung never mentioned it.” Changbin adds, looking at Chan. Chan takes a deep breath, rubbing his face. “Who was that?” Jisung asked again and Chan licked his lips.

“Kim Seungmin. A freshman.”

Chan runs out of the auditorium just in time to catch up to Seungmin who was talking to Minho, Chan’s classmate and friend. “Hey! Seungmin!” He calls and the other turns, giving him a smile. “Oh, Chan-ssi.” Seungmin says. Minho said a quick goodbye to both of them before jogging away. He looked agitated, but Chan could ask about that another day.  
Chan cleared his throat when he stood in front of Seungmin when Minho was gone. “Ho-How did you know that he.. slit his neck?” Chan asks and Seungmin hums, crossing his arms. “Judging from the wet spot last night, it was either he slit his neck, or he was stabbed.” He answers nonchalantly, shrugging. “Accidentally, of course. Who knows?” Seungmin adds, chuckling. Chan blinks at him, lips parting. “Stabbed?” He asked. “Accidentally?” He adds and Seungmin gives him a smile, it wasn’t a warm, friendly smile.

It was a smile like he knew what happened. The way his eyes twinkled and the way he gave him a pat on the shoulder made Chan shiver. He knows. He knows. “Seungmin-“ The other jumped like he remembered something. “Oh right, Felix told me to meet him today. I’ll see you around Mr. Bang.” He states before jogging away with that knowing smile. Jisung and Changbin came out of the auditorium, walking towards him. “Hyung, we heard everything.” Changbin says, standing on his left while Jisung stood on his right. “He knows, doesn’t he?” Jisung quietly asked, looking around if anyone was near.

“If he knows and is not telling us or anyone, we don’t tell anyone as well. We only talk about this in our dorm room and only there.” Chan says, looking at both of them. “From now on, we have nothing to do with it. We’re just students in this school trying to graduate.” He adds and Jisung and Changbin nodded, taking in a deep breath.


	2. when the party's over

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You know that Billie Eilish song you let me hear last month?” He asked again, voice lightly wavering, looking at Minho who was already sitting on the ground, his back resting on the mirror. “Yeah.” Minho answered with a smile.
> 
> “I made a choreography for it.”
> 
> \--
> 
> Please know that I wrote this like, a month ago or something and I haven't rechecked the whole thing :>>

September 25, 2020, Friday, 11:34 pm

“Why are you always here at night?” Hyunjin asks when he sees Minho enter the dance hall, stretching himself. “Don’t you know that this dance room is haunted, hyung?” Hyunjin asked again when Minho placed the gym bag on the ground. The older smiled at him, combing back his dyed orange hair. “But you’re always here too, Hyunjin-ah.” Minho says, combing back his hair once more before going to the speaker and connecting his music. Minho loves dancing, he liked the way his body moved to the beat of the song. It could be fast-paced like hip-hop and urban or it could be sensual and erotic. He liked the latter better. It’s what his taste fits best.

His parents don’t like it because of that reason. As Christians, they think it’s not fit for Minho to dance the way he does even though he loves doing it. That’s why he was forced to enroll here, but little did they know when they enrolled him, the school has a dance crew. Of course, his parents asked the teachers a favor, asking them to contact them if they see Minho dancing. They never called because they don’t see him with the dance crew or dancing anywhere in the campus because he practiced at night.

He danced for himself at first, until Hyunjin came along.

It was only three months since he was forced enrolled, and two months since his favorite teacher, Mr. Park, told him about the old dance room. Even though it was poorly kept, he managed to clean up and even get the speaker running, thanks to Jisung’s techno skills. Mr. Park saw Minho dancing to himself when he was cleaning the classroom and knew instantly that the dancer in him can’t be kept. So, they made a deal, Minho takes care of his grades – he does this already, and Mr. Park won’t tell anyone where he sneaks of to at night or after class. And if he wants to be in the dance crew, he will let him. 

But he’s already set the goal to just graduate here, move out and join a crew or maybe even make his own if he wanted.

Then he met Hyunjin a week after Mr. Park told him about the dance room and Minho was being cautious. He’s never seen him before, and he just suddenly uses the other side of the dance room with his earphones in. But as the weeks passed by, Hyunjin was always there, quietly stretching on his own and dancing with his earphones on. So, one night, Minho talked to him, asking him if he needed water, but the other declined. The next night, Hyunjin was the one who talked to him first, asking him if he has any hyped music in his playlist. Every night, they talked to each other until they became friends.

Though Minho finds Hyunjin mysterious, he never pushed the younger to talk about himself if he didn’t want to. They’ve only known each other for two months after all. But within those two months, Minho started questioning his sexuality. He finds everything about Hyunjin adorable and well, hot. His long blonde hair fits his pretty face, the way his eyes goes away when he smiles or laughs too much and the way he moves his body is something else which he finds extremely attractive.

They both know how they feel about each other, fond, familiar, and comfortable. They never mentioned it, but they knew it was there. From the way their eyes stare at each other form across the room to the way they take care of each other. It was obvious.

Two Months Ago

Hyunjin enters the dance room, one earphone in. He was bobbing his head to the music when he sees another person in the other side of the room. He takes his earphones off, placing his phone in his pocket and his gym bag on the ground. The other guy had long blonde hair that was tied in a low bun, some strands were falling down on the sides of his face, sweat forming on his back and his chest while some dripped on his forehead. He didn’t seem to mind that Minho was there, so Minho didn’t pay much attention to him

The next night, Minho was resting, drinking his water while the other guy was leaning on the wall. Minho takes a deep breath before speaking. “Do you want a drink?” He asked, the blonde looks at him in shock, as if he didn’t expect him to talk, much less talk to him. “N-no. It’s okay.” He answers, looking away and Minho smiles to himself. Cute. He thinks.

But then the next night, Hyunjin was tying his hair when Minho entered. “Hey, someone came by to fix the speaker, do you have any hype songs?” Hyunjin entered, giving Minho a small smile which the other gave back. “I do actually.” He says, going to the speaker. “So, you met Jisung?” Minho asked, plugging in his phone. Hyunjin scratched the back of his head. “Kind of. We didn’t really talk.” He answered and Minho nods.  
One Month Ago

“Hey, is your back okay?” Minho asked when he sees Hyunjin rubbing his lower back. He wanted to ask if he wanted a massage, but that would be too weird. Hyunjin gives him a bright smile. “I’m okay, hyung.” He says, giving him an ‘okay’ sign, but then he winced. Minho’s eyebrows knitted together as he starts walking towards him. “Let me see.” He says, he didn’t know why he felt like he needed to, but it was too late to take it back now. Hyunjin sighs, turning around and showing him.

A bruise was forming on the right side of his back and Minho reached to touch it, but before he could, Hyunjin turned around. “”Don’t.. touch it.” He says, letting go of his shirt to cover his body. Minho looked at him sternly. “Who did this to you?” Minho asked, eyes on Hyunjin’s shoes. He thinks he wasn’t showing how angry he was, but Hyunjin noticed. He always notice everything about Minho, yet Minho can’t read anything on Hyunjin. “Someone who is long gone.” Hyunjin answers, a hint of anger and relief in his voice.

He tried looking at Minho’s eyes, so the other lift his head up to look at him. “I’m okay, hyung. I promise. It’s done. Everything’s okay now.” He says, his voice soft yet firm. “I’m okay now.” He says, smiling at Minho and the older sighed, looking down and shaking his head. “You’re hurt.” He answered back and Hyunjin wanted to hug him and tell him that he’s really okay, but he stops himself. “I’m okay.” He just says again.

A few days passed and he sees Hyunjin holding his side. He knew exactly what happened. “Who is doing this to you?” Minho asked, throwing his bag down and stomping over to Hyunjin who held his hand up. “My dad.” He said, not looking at Minho. “Why?” The older asked. “He found out I’m not what he thought I was.” He answered weakly, blinking away the tears. “What exactly are you saying?” Minho asked and Hyunjin sighs, rubbing his face. “I’m gay, hyung.” He answered again, still avoiding the older’s eyes. Minho’s gaze soften, a frown appearing on his lips. “What’s wrong with that?” He asked again and this time, Hyunjin looks up to see the expression on Minho’s face.

“You’re not leaving me?” Hyunjin asked and Minho tilts his head. “Why would I leave you?” He asked and Hyunjin gives him a small smile that Minho gave back. After that day, they spent more time talking than dancing, so when Hyunjin leaves first, Minho stays to do his own practice. They talked about their family, their past. And when Hyunjin talks about himself, it’s as if he’s holding back. He’s not telling everything, but Minho was okay with it. Especially since Hyunjin’s bruises lessened each week.

September 25, 2020, Friday, 11:53 pm

“Can I show you what I’ve been working on?” Hyunjin asked, raising both his eyebrows after stretching. He walks to where Minho’s phone was, going to the playlist where the song he knows was in. “You know that Billie Eilish song you let me hear last month?” He asked again, voice lightly wavering, looking at Minho who was already sitting on the ground, his back resting on the mirror. “Yeah.” Minho answered with a smile.

“I made a choreography for it.” Hyunjin says before playing the song and running to the middle, immersing himself to the song. When the first word of the lyrics played, Hyunjin moved and Minho kept his eyes on him the entire time. As he continued to watch Hyunjin and listen to the song, he thinks if Hyunjin was telling him something.

Quiet when I'm comin' home and I'm on my own

Hyunjin pats his own shoulder, Minho inhaled sharply. Then Hyunjin continues. Minho gulps when Hyunjin laid down on the ground, moving his hips upwards. It was a sensual move, yet he made it look so.. different in emotion.

I could lie, say I like it like that, like it like that

Hyunjin kept going and Minho digested the lyrics, his heart suddenly hurting.

Don’t you know too much already?

Minho inhaled sharply. The lyrics. Even though it was in English, they both understood the meaning of the song and what the singer was trying to say and it hurts that they both relate too much. Hyunjin continued to dance, hitting the beats and waving through them perfectly.

And I’ll call you when the party’s over

Hyunjin puts a hand on his neck, eyes on Minho’s teary ones. His small yet fast movements followed the small ticks of the song before he waves his body a bit when the singer sang again. Hyunjin poured out his emotions in the dance, the emotions on his face and his movements left Minho in awe until it ended. When Hyunjin finished and the song fades, Hyunjin turned his back from Minho, he couldn’t turn around to face him, he was breathing heavily, eye closed and the next song plays. It was another slow song, which didn’t help whatever situation they were in.

They both feel it, the sadness, the sudden rush of pain in their chest. But after a moment, Minho spoke. “Hyunjin.” Minho says, standing up. His heart was banging in his chest, making it hard for him to breathe. He didn’t know what it was, or why he feels it. Especially with a guy. He only ever felt his heart beat crazy like this for his ex-girlfriend. But if Hyunjin’s the reason, he’s more than okay with feeling this. “Hyung, just..” Hyunjin says, making Minho stop walking towards him. He slowly turns around, head down as he walks to Minho until he was one feet from him.

“I want to have you. I want to be with you.” Hyunjin whispers, closing his eyes to avoid Minho’s gaze. He was taller than Minho, but the way he looked down with shrunken shoulders, he looked so small compared to him. “But I can’t, hyung. It pains me that I can’t have you.” He adds, voice shaking. Minho slowly reaches up, but Hyunjin flinches, stepping back. “The lyrics of the song..” Hyunjin says, taking a breath. “It’s what I’ve been wanting to say for weeks.” He adds again, a tear falls from his eye and Minho’s heart ached at the sight. He wanted to hug him, wipe his tears away and tell him that he doesn’t have to go home alone.

“Hyunjin, how can you ever be not good for me?” Minho asked, tilting his head to find the other’s eyes. But Hyunjin looked away again. “It’s hard to explain, hyung. It really is. But we can never be together.” The younger says, finally looking up. His eyes were bloodshot already, too many tears falling down his cheeks and Minho inhaled sharply. “Hyunjin.” He says, stepping forward, but Hyunjin stepped back again, shaking his head. “Is..is it because I’m straight?” He asked, curious and Hyunjin inhales. “Because if it is, you don’t have to worry about it because I don’t think I am anymore after meeting you.” He states, stepping forward once.

Hyunjin sobbed at that, looking up to stop the tears. “I know it’s only been a few months, but Hyunjin, you made me feel a lot of new emotions during those months. We can make it work.” Minho says, also tearing up when he saw Hyunjin shake his head, sobbing and sniffing. “It’s not that easy, hyung.” He says, looking into Minho’s eyes. “Just know that I fell in love with you the moment I saw you enter that door.” He said before wiping his tears and running out the door.

Minho closed his eyes, tears falling down his face.

Pain.

That was all he could feel right now.

\--

September 26, 2020, Saturday, 1:34 am

Minho blinks as the police cars and ambulance drove away. The boys from the left side of the room who went to their side to check what was going on went back to their own dorm room. “That was crazy.” Jeongin, the youngest of all the freshmen, says, looking at an unfazed Minho. “Oh, hyung you look like crap.” He says and Minho messed with his hair. “Thanks.” He says sarcastically, yet weakly, closing their door and locking it. “Are you okay?” Jeongin asked, more sincere. Minho sighs, nodding his head, avoiding the younger’s eyes. “Go to sleep, Jeongin.” He says, lying on the bed and covering his whole body with the comforter.

Him and Jeongin goes to the auditorium as instructed by Chan that morning. “Doesn’t he look out of it today?” Jeongin asks in a whisper while walking along with the other students when he noticed Chan’s distracted eyes. When Minho didn’t speak, he glanced at him. “You look out of it too.” He comments when he saw Minho’s unfocused puffy red eyes with dark circles underneath. He cried all night, sobbing quietly under the covers, trying not to wake up the younger on the other side of the room. He couldn’t stop thinking about how Hyunjin looked with all the tears running down his cheeks.

He wonders where he stayed because Minho never saw him in the dorms. He doesn’t even know what classes he was in because Hyunjin always found a way to not tell him. But even though he didn’t tell Minho about his classes or where he was sleeping, staying with him in the dance room and talking was enough for him. When they reached the auditorium, his eyes wandered, looking everywhere for that long-haired beauty. It’s only been a few hours, but he misses him. So much.

“Looking for someone?” Jeongin asked and he nods. “Do you have a classmate called Hyunjin?” Minho asked, sitting down and Jeongin sits down beside him, tilting his head as he thinks. “No. Why? Is he a freshman?” He asked back and Minho sighs, nodding his head. “I’ll go ask the freshman group chat if they know him.” He says and Minho nods again, thanking him. “But, why are you looking for him?” Jeongin asked.

Minho shook his head. “I just saw him in the dance room, I wanted to ask him something.” He answered and Jeongin nods, taking his phone out and chatting. They principal walked out. He told everyone that the man killed himself and Minho sighs. “Why choose this school to do it?” He quietly asked, shaking his head. They were told that they didn’t have any class today so Jeongin invited him to eat. Minho stops walking in the hallway, looking at Jeongin. “Um, I’ll go to the dance room. Text me if anyone updated you about Hyunjin.” He says and Jeongin nods, smiling at him before walking along with Felix.

Minho ran. He ran to the dance room in hopes to find Hyunjin in there. He ran too fast that he bumps into Seungmin, a freshman who’s also friends with Jeongin. They almost fell down if not for Seungmin balancing them. “Sorry.” Minho says, straightening himself. Seungmin shook his head, smiling. Minho found how eerie his smile was. Like, he found out something that no one should. “It’s alright. You don’t have to run. He’ll be there.” He says and Minho blinks at him. “How..” He says, but then Chan came running towards them. “Hey! Seungmin!” He called and Seungmin turned around with a smile.

“Oh! Chan-ssi!” Seungmin greets. Minho exhales, saying a goodbye before jogging away, thinking about how Seungmin knew. He never told anyone about the blonde haired kid. Did he visit the dance room?

Minho reached the dance room, breathless with drops of sweat on his forehead. He pushed the door open to reveal Hyunjin with his back turned, hands on the wall like has holding himself up. “Hyunjin.” Minho called and the other turned around, wide eyes red and puffy like Minho’s. “What are you doing here?” Hyunjin asked, voice breaking. Minho’s eyes scanned Hyunjin’s face before seeing his neck. There were traces of fingers around his neck, it was bruised and it looked like it was painful.

“Hyunjin, you need to get away from your dad.” Minho says, stepping forward until he was in front of a broken looking Hyunjin. “He’s long gone, hyung.” He answered and Minho’s eyebrows furrowed. “Then who in the hell is doing this to you?” He asked again and his phone buzzed. He exhaled sharply, taking his phone out.

From: Innie  
Hyung..

From: Innie  
Hwang Hyunjin died five years ago..

Minho blinks at the screen as he reads the next one, this time, Jeongin sends a screenshot of an article that was published five years ago.

From: Innie  
His father strangled him in the dance room.  
Then took his own life using a gun at his home.  
*images attached*

From: Innie  
Hyung, are you okay?

Minho’s hands started shaking as he looked at Hyunjin. No. He’s too real to be dead. “Hyunjin.. what is this?” He asks instead, showing the messages. He didn’t have to show the messages, Hyunjin knew from that expression alone that someone had found his past and told him. “It’s real, hyung.” He says, gulping, eyes staring back at Minho’s confused ones. “What do you mean, it’s real? Hyunjin, I’ve been with you for months.” He states, getting more confused than before as he puts his phone in his pocket.

“You’ve been with me, alone, for months.” Hyunjin says, tears forming in his eyes. “Jisung never saw me, but I saw him.” He adds and Minho shook his head. “Seungmin saw you.” He answered, combing back his hair in frustration. “He can see me. He’s seen me everywhere. He knows I follow you throughout the day just to make sure you’re okay.” He answered back and Minho leans on the mirror, keeping himself up. “Hyung, I didn’t want to end it like this.” He adds and Minho slides down, hugging his knees as he looks at the ground.

Hyunjin walks towards him until their toes were almost touching before he squats down. “Hyung, look at me.” He says, almost in a whisper. Minho exhales shakily, forcing his eyes to look at Hyunjin. “I’m sorry that we came to this.” He says. “But I don’t regret it.” Hyunjin says and Minho lets his tears spill. “I get to move on now.” He adds, his hands itching to touch the older’s cheek but he couldn’t. “All thanks to you, hyung.” He says, too much tears spilled on his cheeks. He sobs, looking up to lessen the tears and avoid blurring his vision.

“I’m leaving.” He continued, looking down again and Minho was sobbing now, everything he thought was real in a few months turned out to be something not. It’s all so confusing. His head started hurting, he blinked the tears away as he looked at Hyunjin, little hiccups coming from his lips. “I’m so confused.” He says, his voice wavering. “You’ll understand soon.” Hyunjin answered. His breath got caught in his throat to see his neck clearing up from the mirror behind Minho and the older watched, wiping the tears away to see if he really saw what Hyunjin’s neck did.

Hyunjin gave him a small, sad smile. “Hyung, it’s almost time, can you please smile at me?” Hyunjin asked, wiping his own tears away and clearing his throat. Minho continued to look into Hyunjin’s eyes, too many thoughts running through his mind, too many emotions showing in their eyes. Hyunjin started to fade. Like, literally fade. Minho held his breath when he sees through Hyunjin. “Hyung, please smile at me.” The younger says, voice trembling. “I love you.” He adds, reaching out and Minho finally, finally, snapped out of it and gave him a smile. A sad, broken smile before reaching out.

“I love you too.” He says, almost in a whisper.

The tips of their fingers touched, though Minho couldn’t feel it physically, he felt a bit of coldness from where it touched. Hyunjin gave him his bright smile before he fades away. Minho then breaks down, putting his head between his knees as tears rushed down his face, sobbing and gasping for air. “Hyung!” He hears Jeongin’s voice coming through the hallway. He hears footsteps and the door bursting open. “Hyung.” Jeongin says, confusion and concern in his voice. Hyunjin kept sobbing, his heart aching too much that he had to hold his chest. “He’s gone.” He sobbed out, looking up at him and Jeongin, along with Seungmin and Felix looked at each other, Jeongin and Felix more confused than Seungmin.


End file.
